Cubco – Ugly But Safe
Mitch Cubberley is credited with being the man most responsible for changing the image of skiing as a leg-breaking sport. Ski injury experts estimate that in the years around World War II about 1 percent of skiers suffered an injury on any given day, usually a lower leg fracture. Roughly 10 percent of skiers were in plaster casts by the end of the season.
Cubberley was a skier and engineer who recognized a problem in ski bindings that had escaped other tinkerers. In 1948 he put his mind to addressing the problem of soft leather soles that were gripped by a cable and toe affair that made release very unreliable. He reasoned that by removing the leather boot sole from the system he could improve safety. His solution was the Cubco binding, a system of spring-controlled latches which matched metal plates screwed to the heel and toe of the boot. They were ugly and utilitarian looking but the metal-to-metal interface greatly improved performance and safety. By 1952 a toe piece that released in all directions was patented and by 1955 a modification to the heel piece made it the first step-in binding. By the mid-sixties Cubco was selling 200,000 pairs annually, especially to rental operations.
As an interesting side note, Cubberley was amazingly generous with his designs and he declined to protect his patents when other companies infringed on them. He died in 1977 at age 62. Cubco folded two years later. |
